William Byron wins chaotic Charlotte Xfinity race in NASCAR overtime

Fresh off of signing a new four-year contract with Hendrick Motorsports, Cup star William Byron celebrated by securing a NASCAR Xfinity win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday. He snatched the lead from Justin Allgaier on an overtime restart, driving away with fresher tires as the field took the white flag.

“I was somewhat confident,” Byron told The CW broadcast. “I felt like if we got some yellows, we’d be good but man, that didn’t work out the way we thought it (would). Just had a lot of green flag running and couldn’t really get back to the front. But man, feels awesome to win. This is my home track. It feels really good. Restart merchant there at the end. It’s fun to be back in Victory Lane. I feel like I haven’t won in a while.”

For Allgaier, it was a bitter defeat. He went against his crew chief’s wishes and stayed out on older tires when most of the field chose to pit. A series of yellows helped him to remain out front, but those who pitted for fresh rubber continued to make up spots and creep closer. On the final restart, he had three fast drivers who had made four-tire stops directly behind him. 

There was little he could do at that point as Byron, Connor Zilisch, and Nick Sanchez passed him in the closing moments of the race. Allgaier ultimately finished fourth.

“Being the leader is a tough spot in that regard,” said Allgaier, who led 101 of 205 laps. “I saw the #00 [Sheldon Creed] was staying out anyway and to be honest with you, I should have just come down pit road. All things aside, I thought there was going to be a lot of games played on pit road. And I felt like if things got settled out and they had to travel through all of that traffic, we were going to maybe net okay. And then all of those cautions, one after another — it was great because we were able to hold those guys off but it really just hurt us because they were able to get a spot or two every restart.

“I’m heartbroken.”

Sammy Smith originally finished fifth, but was later disqualified for failing to meet minimum weight in post-race inspection. As a result, Dean Thompson has been promoted to fifth, Josh Williams sixth, Austin Hill seventh, Ryan Ellis eighth, Christian Eckes ninth, and Sheldon Creed tenth. 

A wild final stage

Byron dominated the first two stages, but the two-time Daytona 500 winner made an unforced error on pit road as he got caught speeding, sending the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to the very rear. While Allgaier was cruising out front, Byron cut a path back through the field.

But during a cycle of green flag pit stops with just over 50 laps to go, a caution flew for debris after Taylor Gray suffered a flat left-rear tire. Byron was trapped a lap down and had to take the wave-around.

At the moment of caution, Brandon Jones was leading a group of drivers that were running long in the run. Allgaier had already pitted but managed to stay on the lead lap, so he inherited the race lead for the restart that followed.

The turning point of the event came when Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil spun with 22 laps to go. As most of the field dove to pit road, Allgaier made the surprising decision to stay out while his crew chief called for him to pit.

“I know this isn’t what you wanted,” radioed Allgaier. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll take the blame for it, but I feel like I got you on this one.”

On the restart, there was a major stack-up with Harrison Burton getting damaged in the melee. Meanwhile, his cousin Jeb was now being scored in second. The wrecking continued as  Katherine Legge got turned by JJ Yeley, causing both cars to go spinning.

The restart saw the cars with four fresh tires finally arrive at the front of the field with Zilisch harassing Allgaier for the lead, even with a tire rub. But just as he was making the move, more cars piled up on the backstretch, with Brandon Jones tagging the wall before getting run over by Leland Honeyman Jr. Kyle Sieg got collected as the wreck unfolded.

This pushed the race into overtime and Allgaier gave it everything he had. Byon pulled to the outside of Allgaier and the two made slight contact on approach to the white flag with Allgaier nearly spinning. Byron skipped away as Allgaier faded on the final lap, which ended under caution due to a heavy accident involving J. Burton and Brennan Poole.

This Byron’s fifth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, and his first since the 2017 season.

Photos from Charlotte – Race